Heathcliff and the Cadillac Cats
Heathcliff (also known as Heathcliff and The Catillac Cats) is an animated television series that debuted on September 5, 1984.[1] It was the second series based on the Heathcliff comic strip and was produced by DIC Entertainment. It ran in syndication until 1988 with a total of 86 episodes. The first show based on the comic strip was Heathcliff and Dingbat, which debuted in 1980 and was produced by Ruby-Spears. Mel Blanc provided the voice of Heathcliff in both series. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Heathcliff_%281984_TV_series%29&action=edit&section=1 edit Premise The first season ran for 65 episodes and the second season for 21 more. Each episode included a backup segment featuring The Catillac Cats, which is why this show is sometimes referred to as Heathcliff and The Catillac Cats (the second segment is referred to in the closing credits as "Cats & Co".). While the series was on the air, a movie, aptly titled Heathcliff: The Movie, was released which was a compilation of segments from this show.[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Heathcliff_%281984_TV_series%29&action=edit&section=2 edit Characters *'Heathcliff': Title character, he is an orange street smart cat , who spends most of his time trying to turn a dustbin over onto people's heads. Heathcliff is a real street cat who loves to fight anyone and everyone and will lie, cheat and steal to get himself some food, but beneath it all, he's a good guy. Heathcliff is voiced by Mel Blanc. *'Sonja': Heathcliff's love, a fluffy white Persian cat, who wears a pink collar. Heathcliff is always trying to win Sonja over, although generally she is not usually too impressed with Heathcliff's antics as she is a far classier type of cat. Sonja is voiced by Marilyn Lightstone. *'Knuckles': Dress in a pink hat and a red-and-black striped shirt, Knuckles and his henchman are not really Heathcliff's enemies—more like a group of cats that he constantly annoyed and/or bullied. More often than not they were after him, because he had tried to trick them in some way. Knuckles is voiced by Derek McGrath. *'Spike': Probably the closest thing to a nemesis that Heathcliff had, Spike was no-where near as clever as Heathcliff—all brawn and no brains. Spike is owned by a neighborhood bully called Muggsy. Heathcliff was quite able to handle both of them when necessary. Spike is voiced by Derek McGrath. *'Iggy Nutmeg': Heathcliff's owner who lived with his grandparents. Iggy sometimes takes Heathcliff to strange places and new locations for adventures. Iggy is voiced by Donna Christie. *'Marcy': A small girl who lived in the same neighborhood as Iggy's family. Marcy always saw the best in Heathcliff and thought he was a little angel. She also loves to have Heathcliff ride in her baby doll carriage, which for the most part Heathcliff is more than happy to oblige. Marcy is voiced by Jeannie Elias. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Heathcliff_%281984_TV_series%29&action=edit&section=3 edit The Catillac Cats Main article: The Catillac CatsA gang of cats that played alongside Heathcliff. When Riff-Raff is not around, the Catillac Cats are sometimes helping Heathcliff in some adventures or sometimes tease him only to be pounded to the pavement. They drive a very cool Cadillac which could transform into an airplane and a boat and lived in a junkyard. *'Riff-Raff': The boss, lived in a crashed plane on top of a junk-pile while using a trapdoor for an exit. He is a small orange cat with a large white cap. Riff-Raff is voiced by Stanley Jones. *'Cleo': Riff-Raff's love interest, most episodes focused around Riff-Raff trying to woo her. She lives in a musical instrument shop with Bush. She had a 1980s-hairstyle and leg warmers. Cleo is voiced by Donna Christie. *'Hector': Second-in-command, sometimes wanted to be leader. His colors are a mix between brown and dark brown. Hector wore a headband and a long neck-tie and drove around a convertible Catillac/Van along with the gang. Hector is voiced by Danny Mann. *'Wordsworth': is a white cat that Rode on roller-skates, spoke in rhyme and always wore a yellow Walkman. Wordsworth is voiced by Stanley Jones. *'Mungo': Big, clumsy and not the sharpest tool in the box. He is a large cat with unique purple/blue/grey fur that wears a red sweater and a matching red cap. The name was used to show similarity between him and the character with a similar name from Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles. Mungo is voiced by Ted Zeigler. *'Leroy': Guard dog who lives in the junkyard with the Catillac Cats. Leroy is voiced by Ted Zeigler *'Bush': A loyal sheepdog who lived with Cleo in the music shop. Unfortunately due to his bushy hair-do, most of the time when Riff-Raff would break in to take Cleo out, Bush would end up running into various musical instruments trying to stop him. Bush is voiced by Danny Wells. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Heathcliff_%281984_TV_series%29&action=edit&section=4 edit Episode List http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Heathcliff_%281984_TV_series%29&action=edit&section=5 edit Season 1 http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Heathcliff_%281984_TV_series%29&action=edit&section=7 edit Theme song Two versions of the Heathcliff (DiC series) theme song were made. In its original broadcast run, the theme song began with the lines, "Cats and company have fun / Playing pranks on everyone," and returned to the "Cats and company" phrase often throughout the song. Perhaps in order to clarify any possible confusion about the name of the show, it was later replaced with a version that removed all references to "Cats and company." The second version began, "Heathcliff, Heathcliff, no one should / Terrify the neighborhood." The phrase "Heathcliff just won't be undone, playing pranks on everyone" replaces the original phrase. The original theme song is featured in VHS releases, as well as in cable reruns. The UK broadcast, despite including the name "Cats & Co." in the title, used the "No one should" version of the theme song. The lyrics that can be seen in the Closed Captioning,offer three different versions of one line about the "Cadillac Cats". Version 1 is "They'll make "some" history". Version 2 says,"They'll make (garbage)dump history". the third version is "They'll make "junk" history. The correct version is "some" history. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Heathcliff_%281984_TV_series%29&action=edit&section=8 edit Movie Heathcliff: The Movie was released to theaters on January 17, 1986, and subsequently on VHS in 1988 by Paramount Video. It includes seven segments from the original show: *Cat Food for Thought *Heathcliff's Double *The Siamese Twins *An Officer and an Alley Cat *The Catfather *Boom Boom Pussini *Pop on Parole http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Heathcliff_%281984_TV_series%29&action=edit&section=9 edit Broadcast History In the United States, the series was aired in national first-run syndication from September 5, 1984 until 1988, and reruns of the series were then aired on Nickelodeon from 1989 until 1993. Then it premiered on Family Channel from 1993-1999. From September 27, 2010 until September 23, 2011, rerun of the series have been airing in the United States on the This Is for Kids block on This TV.[1][3] It is also airing on Boomerang every morning at 8:00am in place of Wacky Races. In the U.K. the series aired on CBBC during the late 1980s and early 1990s, then in the early 2000s it was aired on Toon Disney U.K. in 2000, and was usually billed under the title Heathcliff Cats & Co.[4] The series was also aired in Japan. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Heathcliff_%281984_TV_series%29&action=edit&section=10 edit DVD releases On February 24, 2004, UAV Entertainment released two best-of collections with each set featuring nine select episodes from the series. On September 20, 2005, Shout! Factory released Heathcliff & the Catillac Cats in a 4-disc boxset featuring the first 24 episodes of the series. This release has been discontinued and is now out of print as Shout! Factory has lost the rights to the series.[5] Since 2007, NCircle Entertainment has released seven Heathcliff DVDs.[6] On February 21, 2012, Mill Creek Entertainment will release Heathcliff- Season One, Volume 1 on DVD in Region 1. The 3-disc set will feature the first 32 episodes from the first season.[7] They will also release a 10 episode best-of collection on the same day. In France, two more 4-disc sets were released under the French title of the series, Les Entrechats.